The Planet Crafter

Planet Crafter is proof that you cannot trust reviews in the age of AI. Is the game worth a "Very Positive," my experience with Steam games says sure, maybe even a generous "Mostly Positive." But an "Overwhelmingly Positive?" They overshot the scam and it's obvious. The gameplay is pretty basic in that they took the same old engine, loaded up most of the same old assets, slapped a casual survival crafter premise on it and called it a day, and as far as that goes, it is solidly mediocre. But there are walkmesh holes in the map: one feels like a trap in that it occurs right in front of a gold chest, and I would have believed it *WAS* a trap, if it didn't drop me clean out of the map. There are gaps in the terrain, there are places where you can get in underneath the terrain, it's so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ buggy that the "unstuck" button is listed amongst your controls. That would be like instead of a EULA you got a signed apology for the atrocity you are about to get exposed to. Instead of fixing the one planet they ♥♥♥♥-♥♥♥♥♥♥, they sold you two more busted planets with the same gaps in terrain and walkmesh issues. Look, I get looking for terrain issues is *BORING* but at least set up a bounty and crowd source that ♥♥♥♥, you have the coords right there on the screen. The vehicle physics are spot on as long as you are capable of punting a Humvee across the 50-yard line like a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ superhero in real life. If you can't punt a Prius like a soccer-ball then the physics are absolutely off, which is probably the case but I don't want to make any assumptions. It also uses the same generic crashing sound every game uses and of course they give you a wheeled vehicle and no flat space to drive it so it's basically just a game of geographic ping-pong. The game loop is basically you are a criminal (yay) who has been dumped on a planet (original) and told to terraform the planet as your punishment, but you can neither keep the planet or any of the resources you find on it. That also seems to extend to every other planet in the system, and if you think about weaponizing those resources to try and take the planet, the absolute lack of combat mechanics will prevent you from doing so. Yay. The process of terraforming is basically generating a random selection of ♥♥♥♥, all of which increases your terraforming index, which is insultingly simplistic. You could generate a breathable atmosphere and never generate a lick of oxygen if you wanted to. You could create paradise just by pumping out frogs if you're patient enough. Terraforming score only goes up as a sum total of whatever you generate, so even after you terraform a planet, generating endless pressure, for example, keeps pumping that score up and in turn generates "galactic terraforming index." You get cool unlocks as you terraform, but you're at the end game and still getting cosmetics *LONG* after you've already built your base and won't be interested in changing it. ==What they COULD have done== Well, instead of making the entire thing a sums game, they could have generated planets with hidden target temp, pressure, gas composition values (like real planets) and let us play the hotter/colder game of trying to teraform a planet until we hit Eden, then let us unlock some tools that let's us get more efficient at that task by revealing one or more of the target markers via scanners, and given us tools better suited at altering the atmosphere until we become terraforming machines. Let us unlock all the building blocks WAY earlier and then find some non-structural cosmetics as rare drops. I mean, the list of planets is ok, I guess, but a nice little space mini-game would not have gone to waste. Maybe a nice galaxy view? Maybe give us a few planets that *can't* be terraformed and let us try (and fail) anyways, and then let us go through the process of learning how to select ideal candidates for terraformation until we unlock the scanner tool that tells us? Some procedural generation would have added some replayability and probably fixed your terrain bugs. I mean, I get that the game is limited by scope, but they could have done something more than the "Moar numbers!!" simulator they got going on now. ==The good side== It's a casual survival builder, so if you like digging up blocks, turning them into pretty blocks, then making a mansion with a view, you'll have fun with that. Watching the planets suddenly change as it gets bigger is exciting the first couple times it happens. The moment you figure out there is a galactic terraform value you realize you can play this game for a little while at least. I wouldn't say avoid it, probably worth getting on sale. It's "mostly positive."

This game is a fantastic mix of many of my favorite elements in the automation genre. It has portions that feel like Satisfactory, but on a more potential-per-resource scale. Some of the scaling feels funny at first, but I think is very intentionally tied to step-changes in our own human history which make them feel really amazing even if the input isn't as insane as you'd expect from other games. I think there is room for a few more options on connectivity between resources and output types, but overall it's very well thought out and an absolute blast to play and see the world changing around you as you succeed.

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Honestly fun, addicting, and wonderful game that I really should play more of.

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очень интересная песочница, все предельно ясно как делать\крафтить. кайф ваще

I've really enjoyed this game, very few glitches, and moderate progression that depends on the player's actions. Watching the planet become green and lush has been delightful!